


An Albatross Around the Neck

by MegaWallflower



Series: rival villages au [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hyuuga Clan-centric, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iwagakure | Hidden Stone Village, M/M, Might Guy is a good dad, Not Beta Read, POV Hyuuga Neji, Pining, Running Away, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24924706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: A long way away from home, way out in the Fire Country, Might Guy runs into a troubled genius shinobi from Konoha who’s weighed down by his past, present, and future.No, not that one.(Canon-divergence AU. In which Guy is from Iwagakure.)
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hyuuga Neji & Maito Gai | Might Guy
Series: rival villages au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001112
Comments: 5
Kudos: 125





	An Albatross Around the Neck

**Author's Note:**

> Back to our Iwa Gai/Rival Villages AU! Here's a one-shot to explain how Gai met Neji!

Neji was five years old and already marked for death.

The edges of his blade sliced at the stained skin of his forehead, again and again and again. He’d rather paint it red than stare at that hideous green scar anymore.

His hands had blistered from learning the grip of his kunai, and calloused over, and his muscles were aching and sore from practice and errands and training. And still, he kept at it, until his hair fell in his eyes and blocked his vision, matted with blood and sweat. He swiped at his locks and squinted through the cracks into the water of the river in front of him.

He snarled at his reflection, his small fingers digging into the flesh of his scalp. He raked his nails along his scalp, digging in until they bled, too. He saw red as blood dripped into his eyes, but he did not falter.

It didn’t matter how far he dug or how much of himself he tore away.

The pale green glow of that seal still marked him, which was more visceral and painful than the mess of red blood and black and blue bruises all over his forehead.

Even if he scratched away all the skin, the muscle and sinew and bone, Neji suspected it would still mark him. Even past his veins, his muscles, past the skull itself.

His body trembled as it remembered the pain of the activated seal, searing into his brain and into his very soul. He’d never felt a pain like that. Neji had endured so much training and pushed his body to its limits daily, and yet, he had never, ever been so shaken and frozen and reduced to some pitiful weakling writhing on its knees. It hurt so bad, just the memory of it numbed him to the pain of the throbbing wound he was worrying into his head.

Even if Neji was the one most beloved by the Hyuga clan’s abilities, at the end of the day, that’s all the side branch was. Writhing weaklings bound by the chains of fate.

This was futile and he was a fool. He was weak and bloody and battered, and his mental fortitude was fairing no better.

Drops of something fell from his face and caused ripples on the water's surface—tears or blood, Neji wasn’t sure which. Either was a sign that he was still too, too weak.

“…A little lost, aren’t you?” A deep voice called from behind him.

Neji staggered to his feet, breathing heavily and turning around to face the voice. Neji fought to steady his footing against his own trembling. He held his blade defensively in front of him, his body tense and ready for anything.

A sudden sharp pain shot across his leg, and Neji collapsed to one knee with a grunt. He looked down and huffed when he saw crimson beginning to well up in the fresh wound. He must have wounded himself while he ran away. The adrenaline had distracted him from even noticing this gash. He winced, but the pain wasn’t insurmountable. Nothing hurt more than that seal did.

“Well,” the man continued, coming out of the shadows of the forest’s trees. Neji’s eyes trailed over him, scrutinizing his body and attire. A tall man with a bowl-cut, well-built, wearing a jarring green jumpsuit and an unfamiliar uniform vest. Certainly not a Hyuga sent to get him, but Neji didn’t let his guard down. “I guess we both are a little far from home.”

The boy was quiet for a bit, with a blank face, as if he hadn’t even registered what they’d said. _Home… going back home… Back there…_ It was a thought that made Neji’s heart race and his stomach clench, like he was about to retch. It was a word soaked in blood and weighed down by suffocating darkness, piercing screams. A shudder ran up his spine and seized his heart tight.

Neji backed away as the man took a step closer. “I—I refuse—” He spoke in short, breathless gasps.

“Refuse?” The man knelt down on his knees so he could get a better look at Neji. He tilted his head curiously, and despite being such a large man, in the pale nightlight, he looked completely unassuming. A ridiculous haircut, big naïve eyes, head canted to one side curiously like some stupid lost pet. “Oh, I get it! You’re running away from somewhere?”

A boiling rage settled beneath Neji’s skin. He grabbed the single weapon he’d managed to take before he ran away, the kunai that was dulled and soaked in Neji’s own blood, and brandished it against the man. “You—You don’t ‘get’ anything! Leave me alone, or I’ll cut your throat!”

Neji raised the blade in his hand in threat, trying to steel himself from thinking the worst of the situation and preparing himself for another tough round as the man stalked closer. He seemed stupid, but he still dwarfed Neji with that muscular figure, and Neji had no idea what this man was capable of. He was so tired. He would have a difficult time powering through any sort of fight.

The man seemed to consider his options, too, because he suddenly stopped. His arms crossed over his chest and he tilted his head curiously in the other direction, looking as absent-minded as a helpless puppy. Neji took the chance to slash the kunai at him warningly.

“…Are you alright?” The man asked, like he didn’t have a blade aimed at him. It felt, rather ridiculously, like trying to coax an animal out of hiding.

Neji put a hand on his temple and shook his head, like he simply had a headache. “I can’t…”

“You shouldn’t be out here alone. You’ll worry your loved ones. What about the people who are waiting for you to return home?”

That ignorant, good-natured plea from some stranger who knew absolutely nothing was the final straw. “—I’m not going!” Neji finally screamed, pulling himself back up to his feet. He swayed dizzily, and his vision blurred then cleared, but Neji hid his weakness and pushed it beneath his fury. “I won’t! I’m not going to die like a dog there! I’d rather—”

Neji charged at him suddenly, and he actually did hit the man this time, a clean deep cut across his beckoning hand and arm. His blade ripped a hole in the fabric of the man’s jumpsuit, and within seconds he observed the scratch it left behind on his exposed skin that began to well with blood.

A dark satisfaction coursed through Neji when the man backed away slightly, a little too late to avoid the kunai. “Shut up. You don’t know anything. You have no idea what I went through there. If that’s all that fate has in store for me, then I—” Neji paused.

If that was all fate had in store for him, then he couldn’t do anything. He knew that. That’s what fate was. The futility of running away sunk in heavily, and his entire body trembled at the thought of whatever punishment he would be facing when he was dragged back to the Hyuga compound. Goosebumps prickled on his skin as the reality of the situation sunk in.

He was scared. He was terrified. He’d rather do anything than go back there.

He remembered his father’s words, that his only free choice had been the choice to end his own life of his own accord, on his own terms and no one else’s.

Neji gripped the hilt of his stolen kunai and shifted atop his feet nervously. He rose the blade again, glaring at the man in all his blissful ignorance. The veins in his face strained as Neji activated his Byakugan, sharpening his grimace. Then, Neji turned the blade on himself, towards his own forehead, plunged it towards the mark on his head.

In an instant, the man flung himself at Neji, grabbing him by the wrist and forcing him to miss the easy target. Neji reacted in the nick of time, spinning the blade to deflect him. It sliced open the man’s skin and forced the man to fall to the ground.

“Stay away from me!” Anger radiated from Neji, and he could feel its fervor against the bare, chilled skin of his arms.

If this man thought he could talk down to Neji and expect him to fall in line like the submissive cadet he was born to be, he had another thing coming. Be it through words or through force, Neji wasn’t going to come quietly. Not to this man. Not while he still had at least one other option to him.

He’d truly rather die.

He continued to yell, watching as the uninvited guest climbed back to his feet. He didn't care that he was bigger than him, he didn’t care if he was sent by Konoha or by Kumo or any other village. If this was his fate, and fate couldn’t be fought, then fate was going to have to at least put up a fight of its own.

Neji grit his teeth. His muscles pulsated as he bolted at him again. He shoved himself back against the man before he could properly right his stance. His clammy hands chaffed as he squeezed his blade tight. He knew his own upper body strength would fail up against this man, so he was prepared when his footing slipped. Using his strength as an anchor, he tossed himself back and kept on his feet, successfully knocking the man back to the ground with just the right balance of force and efficient aiming.

No matter how many times Neji cut him or knocked him down, the man pushed himself up again, but he didn't look angry or severe, despite the newly acquired cut across his cheek. He didn’t seem shaken or even slightly winded. He never even fought back. In fact, he was smiling, an utterly joyless, unreadable smile. Cut and bruised, the man looked at Neji with more concern in his eyes and a softer smile than he’d ever seen anyone aim at him. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

He frowned and looked at Neji, who looked just equally surprised.

Neji looked at him, still shivering with eyes that were still small and frightened and sharp all at once. “Just… stop, I can’t… I don’t know who you think you are—!”

“Guy,” the man abruptly announced. He burst into a sudden round of airy laughter, wiping the blood off his face like it was just a minor inconvenience. “I think I’m Guy. I think I was rude, not introducing myself sooner! I hope you’ll forgive me! And I hope I didn’t nick your kunai. I really am sorry for that.” Guy rose his hands to his face, hiding it in his palms and taking a deep breath.

When Guy uncovered his face, Neji’s shivering started to subside.

Guy wore a huge, goofy smile, wide enough to show his gums, his eyebrows were up and arched as high as they could go, and his eyes were rolled back. “Neeh!” he said, his teeth still gritted in his huge smile.

Neji’s eyes returned to normal and he stopped shivering, but then he was just staring at him with a blank face, silent and unmoving.

Guy dropped the smile and brought his eyes down to look at him again, afraid his funny face hadn’t worked, but just then, Neji started laughing. “What kind of buffoon are you?”

Guy grinned and kneeled down. “Ah, so you can smile! Sometimes I worry that that’s a skill only I’ve mastered, but yours is a smiling as dazzling as my own!” he teased. “This is a problem. I already have a rival, I certainly can’t take another, but that smile certainly rivals my own! What a problem, what a problem…” Guy seemed more troubled by that than he was about his open wounds or ruined clothes.

Neji sighed, and with the tension gone, his legs gave out underneath him, bringing him to his knees. Guy turned his attention back towards him.

“You seem troubled, young one! Would you like to talk about it?”

Neji narrowed his eyes in another glare.

Guy got the message. He nodded. “That’s fine, too.”

“…I’ve never seen you around Konoha,” Neji stated, arching an eyebrow.

“Ah, well, that’s good! Since I’m not from around here. Like I said, I’m far from home, too.” The man lifted up the bottom of his vest to show Neji his hitae-ate. In the pale moonlight, Neji could make out the emblem of two overlapping pentagons carved into the metal. He didn’t recognize it, but it wasn’t Konoha. It wasn’t Hyuga. And it wasn’t Kumo. “My full name is Might Guy. I hail from Iwagakure!”

He vaguely recalled that on a map. It wasn’t a neighboring village, by any stretch of the word. “Then what are you doing anywhere near here?”

“There’s someone dear to me here! I came all this way to see him! I had to take a pretty big detour to stop by here after my mission, but it had been so long, I had to hit him up for another proper battle! After all, he is my man of destiny! If it’s for the people I love, I’m willing to endure anything. Even I can be sneaky if my most precious people need me to be. My devotion in that regard is unquestionable. The power of love is second only to the power of youth!”

Neji scoffed. “What’s that? Some sort of cliché, juvenile love story?”

“Maybe it is!” Guy laughed again, and he really did seem to forget about his injuries already.

“You ran miles and miles, without the excuse of a mission here, just to see some person you fancy?”

“I’d run through fire and ice to see him.”

“Because you owe it to him?”

Guy thought about it for a minute, looking up at the moon. “…There are times when the place you call home doesn’t feel whole. There are times when a person gives a better sense of warmth and familiarity that you would normally call home. Home is where the heart is, and my heart has found a home in him. There’s no shame in having to seek that shelter for your heart somewhere outside the four walls you live in. There are times when I simply need to see him. That’s why.” Guy softened and glanced back at Neji. “From the looks of it, you understand that feeling a bit. Where does your heart feel at home?”

Neji thought he had a penchant for loquaciousness himself, but this man could apparently be quite flowery with his words as well. Neji stared at him for a long while, and then tilted his head up with a snort. “I don’t need something stupid like that. I can get by just fine without your flowery metaphors.”

Guy nodded for a moment, deliberating. Then, “Come here.”

“…Why?”

He opened his arms invitingly, another stupid, giddy grin spreading on his face. “Trust me on this.”

Neji momentarily hesitated before edging slightly closer to Guy, dubious about to whatever scheme the man had concocted, but confident that the man was probably too unintelligent to be a threat.

He froze when Guy wrapped his arms around him, gently bringing his head down to Guy’s chest. Neji’s ear pressed against the thump of a calmly beating heart. “Huh? What are you...” Confused, Neji didn’t dare move.

“You’re so tense...” Guy whispered pacifyingly. He sounded sorrowful. “Just close your eyes and focus on my voice.”

Neji huffed but obeyed, unmoving.

“I know how it feels to be lost. To lose what home your heart had,” he soothed, and for whatever reason, he didn’t sound nearly as full of crap as he should have. “If you’re searching for somewhere to turn to, I’d be happy to help you.”

“I didn’t ask for your or anyone’s help...” Neji quietly answered. His grip tightened on the man’s sleeves.

“I know. I’m simply offering it.” Guy set his chin on the top of Neji’s head and gently stroked Neji’s long hair. “You remind me so much of someone I know well.”

“If the man you come all this way to see is anything at all like me, you’re a fool who’s wasting his time.”

Neji felt Guy’s shrug more than he saw it. “There are people who are always in love with the sky, no matter the weather. One day you will find someone who’ll love you the same way. That’s how I love him. Through sunshine or storm. My time isn’t wasted.”

The knot in Neji’s stomach was getting tighter and tighter before he felt the heaviness behind his eyes give way to fat tears that rolled down his cheeks, overwhelmed with all the feelings he’d been running from. “You’re such a fool,” he muttered, keeping his voice steady.

“Yes, I am quite a fool! Fools aren’t half bad at times! Maybe my meeting you is destiny as well. I want to help you, if you’ll let me. But… You can’t stay here in the middle of the woods like this. Not while you’re hurt.”

Neji went pale and physically recoiled, shoving Guy away with shaking hands and stumbling up and away, falling backwards on his weak legs. There was so much more on his mind than just these stupid cuts and bruises along his limbs or the broken skin of his forehead.

Guy already knew Neji had been crying, from his voice and from the water that had been soaking through his clothes, he couldn’t have guessed the raw devastation in Neji’s face. The young boy shook his head, no, no, “I refuse to go back there! If that’s your idea of help—”

Neji could barely talk through his weeping, and Guy didn’t dare close the short distance between them to try to reach out to him.

“It’s not. I won’t make you go back to wherever you’re running from. But I can’t in good conscious leave you here like this. So, where do you want to go? It’s your decision.”

A stunned blink. “My decision?” He spoke much softer now.

“Where would you like to go? I’ll take you there, wherever.”

Neji cheeks were glistening, and he tried to hide it by scrubbing away the tears, but it was too late. Guy had seen everything. Neji, suddenly sheepish, pressed a hand to his forehead and frowned at the blood in his hand. Neji looked at him, then at his hands, at the fresh blood soaking his palm and the bruising at his joints and wrists.

The blissful, stupid grin on Guy’s face made the fear pooling in Neji’s stomach slowly dissipate. It didn’t matter, then, where he was running from, and how little he had told this man.

He was little more than a happy, helpful fool.

At least Neji didn’t have to be afraid of a fool.

His mouth twitched into a smile. Somehow, he felt relieved. Neji cried again, tears welling up and trailing down his cheeks before his mind had time to register what emotion had caused them. He silently sobbed out the heartbreak and confusion he’d been holding in. “Anywhere but here…” Neji’s words were uncertain on his tongue.

“…Oh. Of course! That explains it!” Guy slapped his palm against his own forehead in mock realization. “My mistake! How could I have ever been so blind?” Guy reached behind himself and untied the red hitai-ate from around his waist. “You’re not a one of Konoha’s, are you?”

“…No. I’m not,” Neji answered. He wasn’t their equal. For all intents and purposes, he could never properly be one of them.

He froze when Guy reached around him, tenderly wrapping the headband around Neji’s forehead, over the wounds and over the seal. The sturdy cloth had been softened by age and loving use, and the metal was heavy and cool against his wound, like a gentle balm. Neji’s bloodied, blistered skin was going to ruin it.

“Of course! You’re right! After all, you’re heading to Iwa, like me!” Guy gave him a thumbs up after the headband was firmly in place. “A man with a stunning smile and rock-solid will like you must be from my village! What a stunning coincidence, I can’t believe we ran into each other when we were both on our way back home to Iwa! I’ll accompany you, hm?”

Tears welled in Neji’s eyes again, and he genuinely wasn’t sure why. This was a new kind of terrifying. It was scary to be offered hope like that.

Neji never thought he’d ever be on the receiving end of such petrifying gentleness. He reached up towards his forehead again, tiny fingers clinging to the oversized headband. It was way too big for him. But maybe, if he lived a little longer after all, he would grow into it. Maybe, if he followed this happy, carefree fool, this kindness and hope wouldn’t be so scary anymore. Maybe fate was no match for a gentle idiot, like a monkey wrench thrown into the plans of God himself by a traitorous angel.

Voices drifted out of the shadows further in the darkness, filling up the space of the forest and forcing Neji’s thoughts to a startled halt. They were immediately recognizable. This time, it really was his clan.

Neji’s smile died, an irritated sneer taking its place. He wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t believe in fairytales like that. Reality was reality.

“It’s too late. They see us, they’re on they’re way. Their Byakugan already has me in their sight. I’m… going home.” The words were muttered with a vague tone of resignation within them.

A heavy silence fell between them, one that didn't sit well with Neji. He was disgusted with himself for giving in to fate like this. But he had no energy left to fight it now.

“…They can see us! But,” Guy wrapped his arms around Neji suddenly, scooping him into an uncomfortably tight hug. “It’s not too late unless they’ve grabbed us, is it?”

“—What?!”

“Hold on tight.” Neji reflexively did so, not out of obedience, but because Guy suddenly took off in the fastest sprint Neji had ever seen. He had to hold on to keep from slipping. Neji had to raise his voice to speak over the loud beats of wind. “What is wrong with you?! Are you braindead?! This is imprudent! Give up already!” Neji lashed out against Guy’s arms, clawing wildly, and Guy gritted his teeth as cuts pierced through his skin. “You can’t expect to outrun elite shinobi! The Hyuga clan is the strongest in the Hidden Leaf! They’ll catch you and kill you! Put me down and leave!”

“I made you a promise,” Guy reminded him.

Neji’s voice was brittle, his jaw clenched to the point it was painful. “You said some careless, foolhardy thing! Who cares? An impossible thing beyond your abilities is a worthless promise!”

“I care. I made you a promise. And I’ll have you know… I’m pretty elite myself.” Suddenly, Guy’s skin dyed itself red, and his eyes turned whiter than Neji’s. They sped up exponentially. He really might be too fast for them to catch. “I told you I’d take you ‘anywhere but here,’ and I intend to keep my promises.” He looked like a man possessed, but he sounded the same as ever.

“Even if you’re fast, they can still see your face! They’ll see what direction you’re headed in!”

“Good. I hope they know exactly who they have to go through. I’m Might Guy, Blue Beast of the Stone! You say that clan is the strongest in that village? Well, I’m the man who’ll be the strongest in the world!”

“Idiot! They can see the symbol on your headband as clear as day! They know what village you belong to! What exactly do you intend to do when they hunt us down in Iwagakure?!”

“I intend to protect you.”

His heart skipped a beat in shock. Fools were so stubborn. Neji grabbed his sleeve, his knuckles brushing the line of broken skin.

“You’re young, Neji. You’re strong, but you’re young. At times like this, it’s an adult’s job to protect you when you don’t feel safe. You can hold on and rely on me for now. I won’t let them hurt you ever again. You wanted to run away. Don’t give up so easily.”

That made Neji’s brows furrow in thought. “You…” Neji wrapped his arms around Guy’s shoulders, one hand still gripping onto the kunai. Neji was gripping the handle of the kunai so tightly, it might have dented if he was a little stronger. “You’re an idiot,” he repeated again.

Guy held him close, laughing as if this was the most natural thing in the world, a fun, casual run.

Neji felt something stir in his chest, the air feeling charged with something unexplainable. And then he was leaning in without realizing it, laughter echoing Guy’s. His chest thrummed with strange excitement.

This was ridiculous.

This was foolish and reckless and foolhardy and sure to come crashing down on the both of them.

But for once, rather immaturely, Neji didn’t care. Whatever this was, he wanted it until it ended.

* * *

“You go out on one of your escapades and come back with a snot-nosed brat?!” Onoki scolded, glaring daggers from his seat. “You kidnapped some brat?! Like we don’t have enough of your precocious youngsters running around like you own this village already!”

Neji narrowed his eyes at the man from his hiding spot behind Guy. In his opinion, if anyone was snot-nosed, it would be that shriveled old man with the nose as red as a beetroot.

“While I was out, I suddenly realized –I have a passion for teaching!” Guy explained. Neji couldn’t tell if that was the convenient excuse he’d come up with, or if he was really so crazy that he saw Neji, of all people, and suddenly felt like being a mentor for some lost little kid. “I’d like to mold the minds of our shining youths and guide them into adulthood! Please allow me to be a jonin leader for a squad of genin and guide them in their journeys to adulthood!”

Onoki rolled his eyes and muttered, “This little brat’s not exactly a genin.”

Neji glared. This old goat couldn’t be a centimeter taller than Neji was.

“Well, soon to be!” Guy continued. “I’ll cover all costs of enrolling him in the academy myself! I’ll be his guardian, if need be! This little one will be my student!”

“No. He’s right,” Neji cut in. The old man turned his attention to him, apparently having forgot that the boy they were talking about was in the room with them in the first place. “There’s no point in sticking out your neck like this if Konoha intends to retaliate. It won’t do you any favors, Guy. I don’t need to stay here. I can make it on my own. I don’t know that this village has what it takes to get on Konoha’s bad side.”

“Hah! You think I’m scared?! Of the Leaf?!” Onoki’s face reddened with anger, until his cheek and ears matched his nose. “That old goat Hiruzen’s always been fickle and tepid. If he’s supposed to be ‘fire’, it’s an ember about to go out. I’ll crush him to dust myself if he tries anything against my village. He’s probably going senile by now, it’s about time that old man stepped down for good. This is grownup talk, so let the grownups handle it.”

Onoki pushed out of his seat, and Neji thought was going to get to see exactly how their heights compared once the man planted his feet on the ground properly. Instead, his feet hovered high off the ground. The long lappets of his uniform flapped like wings.

Neji’s eyes widened in awe as Onoki flew over to them. “Hey, Hyuga kid,” Onoki demanded. “What’s your name?”

Guy looked down at Neji. He realized that he hadn’t even given his name to this man. “…Neji.”

“Neji, Guy’s your headache now.”

Guy perked up. “So, you mean, Lord Onoki, your decision is…?”

“My decision is, I’m washing my hands of all this nonsense!” Onoki grumbled and flew away, muttering complaints and insults under his breath. “Do whatever you want.”

Neji watched in awe as the little old man flew out of the room past them. Guy followed suit, grinning, fist-pumping to himself embarrassingly, and walking out of the room. Neji trailed behind him. “So, your name is Neji, huh? Well, Neji, you seemed pretty impressed! It’s a hard skill to master, but would you like to learn?”

“Learn what?”

“How to fly! If we get on Lord Onoki’s good side, we can have him teach it to you, too! Unexpectedly, it’s an Earth release technique! I think he’s taken a liking to you already!”

Neji stared up at the sky. He’d always admired birds and their freedom. He’d never dreamed of literally flying himself, but he’d never imagined that was a reachable goal to dream of anyway. If he could fly, would that feel like true freedom, he wondered.

His mouth twitched in what almost became a smile. He wanted to see for himself.

Neji looked over to Guy and felt a twinge of guilt, thinking of the ugly red and raw patches of injured skin that lay hidden beneath the headband he had lent him. It was probably ruined. “I’m not going to thank you for any of this. I won’t apologize for you being scolded by your kage, either. You made this choice yourself.”

“Hmm… Well, Neji, do you know what happened the last time I risked my neck –quite literally –for someone who needed me?”

Neji was silent, so Guy continued with being prompted.

“I met the man of my destiny!” Guy bragged.

“That man you came to the Leaf for…”

Guy nodded enthusiastically. “So, I don’t need thanks! Life has a way of working itself out! As long as I do what I can for the people dear to me, I’ll have no regrets.”

“…You talk about that man a lot. Your man of destiny.” Neji pointed out.

“He’s made me who I am today! My heart is his.”

“He’s a shinobi of Konoha, isn’t he?”

Guy sighed dreamily. “He looks quite stunning in their uniform! I must say, I’m a fan of the green vest!”

“And what will you do when he inevitably chooses duty over love and betrays you? What do you plan to say to him when he kills you on orders from his superiors?”

Guy stopped walking, and Neji paused behind him, wondering if that question had been a bridge too far. “I know who I am, Neji. I know my heart. Regardless of others, I can only live according to how my heart beats. That, to me, is freedom.”

Neji glanced to the side. “Freedom, huh…”

Guy reached down to ruffle Neji’s hair, humming while they started walking again. “I know I said you remind me of my companion. But actually, in this regard, you and I are more alike than you realize, I think.”


End file.
